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I brainstormed for a while trying to figure out what to base this Rose on and I thought a Jester's Staff would be pretty cool. I figured it would work for a castle map or something along those lines.

I then sketched one up on paper, scanned it in and began the journey to bring it to life. I have not really done any vector art before so my intention is to create it as I usually do in Gimp and then use the trace function in Inkscape. Not sure if that does what I think it does but we will see. Even if it doesn't work like that I can always just use my end product from Gimp.

I start with a rough sketch, scan it, touch up and paint. I figured I would attempt a blow by blow account of how I did this in case anyone can learn from it or anyone sees a way I can save myself a step or two. I hope I don't bore anyone.

Step 1 - (scanned image - This is scaled down because, due to pixels I guess, it always comes out huge when scanned at 300dpi and for posting purposes I didn't think that was necessary.)

Step 2 - I then desaturate and duplicate the layer a few times until it is the right darkness to work with. Merge the layers and then clean them up a bit (get rid of stray marks using erase or layer masks).

Step 3 - I add textures and color on separate layers of course. In fact the image at this point consists of 8 layers give or take.

Step 4 - It needs more and I wanted to include a nod to the Harlequin Motley often worn by Jesters so I created a background pattern. I also put a drop shadow for the Jester's Staff to give it more depth. Oh yeah, this needs to be a png for the transparency.

Step 5 - Let's try using Inkscape to see if I can figure out how to vectorize this baby. (Well, after the trace which seems pretty straight forward, I have lost the transparent background.) I'll have to see if I can figure that out but here is the full blown deal out of Inkscape.

This last image is the full size that I am working in but as you can see taking it into Inkscape I lost the transparent background. I'll have to figure out how to fix that.
I am also thinking about creating a borderline around the diamond pattern.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with how this is turning out, it's pretty close to what I imagined. I may play with the colors a bit more but that's just the little stuff.

Last edited by Jaxilon; 02-05-2012 at 02:47 PM.

“When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden